


All Their Light

by Vampiric_Charms



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Mystery, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-31
Updated: 2015-10-11
Packaged: 2018-04-18 08:38:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 23,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4699421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vampiric_Charms/pseuds/Vampiric_Charms
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lin and Tenzin are only just starting to find their lives entwined together again when an unfortunate discovery threatens to pull them apart once more.  Sequel to <i>Warrior Raging</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **This is written as a request for Amira Elizabeth.**
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  _All Their Light_ follows the loose timeline set out by _Warrior Raging_ and _Diminuendo_ , the one-shot that followed it. I’m sure most of you who will be reading this have already read _Warrior_ (I love seeing all your familiar names!), but the main thing to take from that, really, is the ending and where it left Lin and Tenzin together.
> 
> Now, on to the first chapter! Enjoy!

Lin sorted through paperwork, setting piles aside for filing in the archives and what needed to stay readily available. She was trying to keep a close watch on the time, the clock on her desk steadily ticking away to seven in the evening. It was only just after six, she still had time before she had to leave, and she wanted to get this particular project finished to leave for a few of the late shift to handle to be completely done by morning. She was over it, reliving all these cases, and wanted it out of her sight until the next big overhaul in two years.

“Chief?”

She looked up at both her name and the timid knock to see Jaluu, a young man who had been newly appointed to sergeant of his division, looking at her with a nervous expression. His third shift with this position was that evening. Lin beckoned him inside, setting the thick file in her hand back to the desktop. 

“Something I can help you with, Sergeant?” she asked with a small hint of a smile as he closed her door and came inside to sit across from her.

“Well…” 

Jaluu sighed and pursed his lips, eyes darting from the stacks of paper and scrolls and files to the large windows where heavy clouds were gathering outside in the cold winter sky to the bonsai tree sitting nearby. Lin waited patiently for him to continue. “Well,” he finally repeated, meeting her steady gaze. “I think there might be an issue with Shun – you know, he’s in my unit -”

“I know,” Lin interrupted gently. “Why do you think there is a problem?”

“He keeps…well, he’s been talking back to me the last two days. And he’s not giving me any of his reports directly, he’s giving them to Sergeant Zellek instead.”

“Sergeant Zellek is no longer Shun’s commanding officer,” Lin said with disdain. “He was reassigned when you were given his position. Did you ask Shun why he was doing this?”

Jaluu nodded, wringing his hands together. “He didn’t say anything to me. I’m not sure what to do, Chief.”

“I see,” she murmured. She glanced quickly at the clock again, checking the time. Still plenty before she had to rush out the door to meet Tenzin. “All right, let’s discuss this and see what we can figure out.”

xXx

Lin let herself into her apartment a few hours later, desperately looking forward to a hot meal for dinner and an early night, maybe even a chance to read. There was still some of the soup Tenzin had made a few days ago in the icebox, she could heat that for them both and bring her book to the couch. Blissful, is how that sounded.

"It started to snow on my way home, can you believe it?" she asked as she took off her coat to hang on the hook beside his cloak. "Early this year. It's going to be a long winter." She paused, though, when she caught sight of him sitting at the dining room table with his head lowered into his hands. "Tenzin?" she asked, growing concerned.

"You're late," he mumbled. "We were supposed to leave thirty minutes ago."

Lin shook her head in confusion at his words. "Late? Late for - oh, oh no, the dinner party. Give me just a second, I'll go ch-"

"You forgot."

The anger in that one small phrase stopped her before she could fully turn, and she spun to look at him again in genuine surprise. "I'm sorry, Tenzin, Jaluu was having a problem with one of his subordinates and he needed my help. I am simply no longer used to having obligations outside of work, is all, it will take me a bit of time to remember what this is like."

"I see," he said softly, eyes narrowed as he rose from the chair. "So I am merely an obligation to you."

"No!" she replied quickly, aghast when she realized how he had taken what she said. "That is not what I meant, Tenzin, you know it wasn't." She closed the distance between them, reaching out a hand to touch his arm. He was rigid under her palm and her chest clenched. "These events, the silly parties -"

"This silly party happens to be very important to me!" he interrupted, shaking off her hand. "Tsung is ready to give us access to his entire estate to help rebuild the Air Temples, all you have to do is _show up_ with me, if that's not too difficult!"

Her face fell, hurt and upset at the insinuation she didn't care about him or his nation. "Tenzin! Come now, surely you don't truly believe -"

"I'm leaving," he said over her again. "If you care to join me for this dinner you find so beneath you, I suppose I will see you there."

It was a tactic he had taken up in their youth, interrupting her before she could get a good word in during a fight, and he knew it pushed her buttons quickly - just as leaving in the middle of a spat did. He only did either of those things when he was truly angry himself and wanted to drag her down to his level. It took a great deal of effort to resist the temptation he was dangling in front of her.

"Tenzin," she called entreatingly to him as he stalked to the entryway, but he didn't respond and all she could do was watch after him in growing anger when he slammed the door as he left.

She stood there in the stifling silence that fell for a long moment, taking several deep breaths in an attempt to keep her fury from building. It worked - slowly - and she took a step back out of the dining room. There was a part of her, the very angry part, that wanted to let him attend that stupid event alone. But the caring part of her, the one that knew he was just as hurt as she was, urged her to the bedroom to change out of her uniform and into something suitable for presentation to a very wealthy man awaiting her own attendance as promised.

She remembered this man, Tsung. He was a person who enjoyed seeing pairs as tangible things. An odd trait that she herself found displeasing, but she still reached for the scarlet gown she knew would match Tenzin's handsome robes. It would make a good impression on their patron.

This was not Pema's fault by any means, but Tenzin had gotten himself spoiled, having her at his beck and call over the years. A wife ready to put on her pretty acolyte robes for nice functions, to play the part as needed whenever he asked. She wondered, quite suddenly, if Pema had ever tired of that, of having to tend to such things so often. Lin understood it came with Tenzin's position, that his public life was more political than her own was most of the time, but she had truly forgotten just how many functions he had to go to. Councilman, Airbender, representative of the city - all of those things required so much of his time. Hers now, as well, and she would just have to accept that.

She dressed quickly and rushed out the door only twenty minutes behind him, heels clacking onto the cobbled streets as she looked around for a hired car to bring her to the outer edge of the city where the larger, more extravagant houses were.

The party, it turned out, was a large and rather boisterous one. A small band was playing inside, the music calling to many couples dancing away in the ballroom and still loud out through the rest of the house into the grounds as she walked up the long path to the front door. It was held open by an elderly servant, who bowed to her as she approached without giving her any more notice than that.

She spotted Tenzin amongst the throngs of people, talking with their host. He seemed somewhat subdued, given the excited air of those around him, and she shouldered her way through the crowd to his side. She reached out and placed her hand on his arm before he'd even realized she was there.

"I apologize for being so late," she said cheerfully, extending her other hand to Tsung. He took it was relish and kissed her knuckles. "There was a small emergency at Police Headquarters, nothing I couldn't handle." She gave him a sweet smile through the white lie and he ate it right up.

"That's quite all right, Lady Beifong!" he exclaimed happily, patting her hand with both of his and releasing it again. “I am very pleased to see you, and you look ravishing! I was just asking Master Tenzin here about the rebuilding of his lovely temples, it seems like quite the endeavor.”

“I wouldn’t be too worried about that,” she told him, looking up at Tenzin’s surprised face for only a moment. “The acolytes already living there have done such a marvelous job, all we really need to focus on at this point is repairing structural damage from over the years, something they are unable to work on themselves without the proper help.”

Tsung nodded in enthusiastic agreement. “Well, that is certainly something we can discuss, as I am most interested in assisting as best I can. If you’d give me just a second, I think I see my wife over there, I have a question for her.”

The moment he slipped into the thick crowd of people, Tenzin’s hand plucked hers from his arm, squeezing it tightly in both of his. “I am so sorry, Lin, I regret everything I said to you.”

His voice was soft, but she still heard it through the din of people around them. She turned her gaze to meet his, using her free hand to rearrange the stiff collar of his robes and taking a moment of silence to trace the nearly invisible embroidery there. “And of course I forgive you, and I apologize for forgetting we had something planned,” she murmured, “though it appears we have some things to talk about, don’t we.”

“Yes, I suppose so.” He lowered his head, looking away from her.

“I am not angry, Tenzin,” she told him with a little smile, feeling the apprehension through his heartbeat. “And I love you very much. An argument will not change how I feel about you, you know that. Say, since we’re here -” She started to tug at his hand, urging him toward the dance floor behind them. His eyes met her again, surprised and brightening with delight.

“You’d like to dance?” he asked, the question absolutely thrilled.

“I would.”

xXx

“Have I thanked you yet?” Tenzin asked for what had to be the seventh time as Lin washed her face that night. “Because I feel as though it needs to be said again.”

She laughed, patting a towel across her skin to dry it before looking askance at him. “Only every chance you’ve gotten since we’ve returned home. Truly, it wasn’t a big deal. All he needed was a little buttering up. He wanted to give you the money already, he merely needed the final push to do so.”

Tenzin came up behind her when she reached for her moisturizer, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing his face to the side of her head near the clip holding her hair back. “All of those temples, Lin, can you imagine – they’re going to be rebuilt. My people will have true homes again. The acolytes, they won’t have to worry about the towers falling, or the roofs caving in, or the bridges collapsing.”

“They will be magnificent in their glory once more,” she agreed, smiling sincerely at him through the mirror when he looked at her.

He nuzzled his face against her, closing his eyes and grinning. “I don’t even know where to start!” he murmured, his voice falling into her hair. “They all need attention just as badly as the next.”

“The Southern Air Temple, start there first,” Lin said firmly. “Your father’s.”

“Of course,” he whispered, “of course. Yes, I will start preparing everything for it all tomorrow. Spirits, Lin, I can’t believe this is happening.” He kissed the side of her neck and released her, his fingers brushing gently along her sides through her thin dressing gown and making her shiver. “I’ll let you finish getting ready for bed in peace.”

“Tenzin,” she called softly when he turned to walk away. He stopped, catching her eyes in the mirror again, and she let go of what she was going to say. They still needed to talk about the argument from hours before, about what had fueled it so quickly and fiercely, but seeing his tired, excited face…she couldn’t bring herself to poke the wound now. Soon, but not now. “I’ll be in with you in a minute. I love you, Airhead.”

He took the step back to her, leaning forward to kiss her cheek and lingering there for just a moment. “I love you, too, so much.”


	2. Chapter 2

Lin woke early the next morning and trudged to work through a light snow that continued to fall from the dense clouds blocking the sunrise from view. She tugged her coat tighter across her shoulders as she jogged across the street and up the stairs, quickly seeking the warmth of the station. It greeted her happily, ready to take her in from the cold.

“Morning, Chief!” the officer at the desk greeted as she passed.

She gave him a wave, making for the ornate staircase that led to the various floors inside the building. Hopefully Hutou would’ve had time to make her tea already, it was freezing and she wanted something warm. _Warm like Tenzin still dozing in my bed_ , she thought with a little chuckle, almost jealous. He didn’t have anywhere to be until lunch, when he was meeting with Tsung to start fully planning the renovations of his temples.

“Chief Beifong,” Mako said as she came onto the large detectives’ floor.

“Anything important happen while I was gone?” she asked, sweeping by him and unlocking her office door. The teenager followed, a clipboard in his hands. “Where is Hutou?”

“Um, Hutou has the flu, his wife called a few minutes ago.” Lin frowned, but Mako handed her the clipboard without really noticing her changing mood. “And yeah, this was kind of important, I think. All these robberies last night, each within an hour of one another.” She took the proffered board but didn’t look at it. Mako followed her into the office before she could close the door. “I mean, that’s important, isn’t it? Aren’t you going to read the reports?”

“I’m sure it is significant, yes,” she said, taking his shoulder and turning him around to push out the door again. “I’ll look in a few minutes. Go boil some water for me so I can make my tea.”

“I can make it for you,” he offered immediately, looking over his shoulder at her.

“Just boil the water, please. You don’t know how to make my tea the way I like, don’t try now.” She closed the door, blocking out the sounds of other officers coming in for the start of their shift, and gave the stack of reports in her hand a very brief glance. She would look at it closer, truly. She just had several other things to divide her attention between first.

xXx

It continued to snow throughout the day. Lin watched as the tiny, wet flakes piled in the outside sills of her windows, glittering in the sun that came and went in passing snatches. Winter had barely even settled in, and yet it was already a bitterly cold one. She frowned and stared out her window again, up to the cloudy sky. Tenzin hadn’t called to let her know how his lunch went, and she wondered if he was still there hours after they were set to meet, discussing plans. She wondered, too, if she should have volunteered to join him.

She shook her head, picking up the report Mako had given her hours ago that morning and looking over it for just a second. He was on to something there, she had to give him that. Maybe she would leave the case to Jaluu to give to his squad, attempt to catch this tight little ring trying to rob people in the dead of night in the act. 

“Um, Chief?”

She turned her head over to the doorway to see Mako standing there, and she almost opened her mouth to growl at him that she would read his stupid case, thank you, he needed to leave her alone about it - but the expression on his face was much more awkward than it usually was and she paused. “What is it?” she asked.

“Um…” he hesitated, looked over his shoulder at someone standing behind him that she couldn’t see and then back at her. “Uh, Pema is here. To see you.”

“Pema?” Lin repeated, utterly baffled. “Why is Pema here? Is something the matter?”

There was a hushed few words shared on the other side of the door and Mako just shook his head. “Um, no. I mean, no ma’am. She just...wants to see you.”

A weight settled in Lin’s stomach as this sunk in and it took her a moment to fully absorb what Mako was saying as he stared at her with wide, innocent eyes. “Yes, of course, let her in,” she finally said after what felt like several minutes but she knew was only a second of silence.

Mako stepped back out of the door and Pema took a slow step around him, coming into Lin’s sight for the first time. She was dressed as she always was, accommodating the weather with a heavy cloak that looked very much like Tenzin’s. She was alone, none of the children dragging at her heels. Lin stood from her chair, hoping the gesture came across as one of respect, as she meant it, rather than one of intimidation.

“Hello,” Lin said softly, watching her as Pema looked around her office. The door closed with a gentle thud behind her, leaving them alone together for the first time in weeks.

Pema swallowed before bringing her eyes to Lin’s, and it was obvious she had debated long and hard before making the trip here. “Hello,” she replied so quietly the word fell between them like a wounded bird.

“Would you…” Lin paused, glancing at the door and the many people she knew were just beyond it. “Would you like to go somewhere else?” she offered kindly. “There’s a nice little restaurant just down the street, we could get something hot to drink and talk. Since I am sure that’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “I’d like that, thank you.”

Lin walked around her desk quickly and grabbed for her coat, slipping it over her shoulders and reaching for the door. “It’s not a long walk, only a minute or so. No one will disturb us there.”

Pema nodded, turning to follow her with a sad, fleeting grin. “I almost - I don’t know, I was almost thinking he would be here with you.”

That gave her pause, but Lin just shook her head, gesturing for the younger woman to walk out of the office in front of her. “We spend a majority of our time apart, actually. I only see him perhaps a few hours in the evening on those nights he - he doesn’t spend on the island with your family. Tenzin has his own life quite separate from mine.” She saw as Pema lowered her gaze to her feet and she frowned. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

They walked in silence through the building and out into the cold air onto the street. Lin stole a glance at her through her periphery, but Pema kept her face down, the soft strands of hair loosed from her bun by the wind brushing against her cheek. She felt a sharp stab of guilt through her gut. In the years since she and Tenzin had renewed their friendship, Pema had done everything she could to open herself to Lin just as much in the hopes they could be close, as well. Lin had tried, at first. Agreeing to meet for quick lunches and always coming to dinner with their family when Pema invited her, but their friendship, if it could even be called as much, had always been very one-sided. She had stopped trying quite so hard in the last two years, despite Pema attempting to bridge the gap she had let wedge between them. She felt horrible for it now.

The tiny restaurant was mostly empty, the lunch rush long over, and Lin pointed out a small table in a back corner. Pema made her way toward it as Lin went to the register to order spiced tea for them both, and then brought the cups with a little bit of cream over to join her. Pema poured some of the cream into her drink, stirring listlessly with a spoon already on the table, still not looking at her.

Lin let the silence stretch for another few seconds before asking, “Is everything all right, Pema?”

“Yes,” she murmured. “I just… How long was it going on, Lin?” she finally whispered, turning her eyes up just barely from her cup. Her gaze was timid and nervous, and the tension in her shoulders was plain. “Whatever was between you and my hus - you and Tenzin, how long was it going on before he told me our marriage wasn’t going to work?”

At least she had expected this much, once she saw Pema come into her office minutes before, and Lin took a deep breath, letting it out slowly through her nose. “I can’t speak for Tenzin,” she began softly, “but I felt everything changing for us about five years ago.”

“Five _years_?” Pema repeated, her eyebrows coming together in sad surprise. “But that…that means...”

“I promise you, Tenzin was never unfaithful. I still remember what that was like myself, I would not let him do it to you.” She couldn’t help the sting from entering her words, but she still attempted to give her a small smile to soothe the barb. “We just - well, I suppose we found something we thought we had lost. Nothing we did was intentional, I swear it. Has Tenzin not spoken with you about any of this?”

Pema merely shook her head, slowly dropping her gaze again as she took in the words she had been waiting to hear. “We talk, though we don’t talk about these things. He doesn’t talk to me about you.”

Lin reached out her hand and placed it very gingerly on Pema’s wrist. The woman startled, looking up at her again quickly with wide eyes. “For what it’s worth,” she said, “I am genuinely sorry for any pain I caused you. Tenzin and I should never have allowed ourselves to get as carried away as we did, it was wrong and selfish. I didn’t -” She stopped, withdrawing her hand and setting it in her lap instead. “I never imagined he would go as far as he did for me, truly. You and the children mean so much to him.”

“He still left us.”

Lin had no response to that and she looked down at her cup of tea on the table.

“Do you think…” Pema paused, gathering her thoughts. “Do you think he ever loved me the way he loves you?”

For some reason that question stirred up a very old, bitter anger and she picked up her cup to avoid meeting Pema’s eyes. “Of course he did,” she said stiffly. “Don’t be absurd.”

“But-”

“The only reason he left me all those years ago, Pema, was to be with _you_. What else would you call that, aside from ‘love’?” She couldn’t help the snap to her voice, though by then she didn’t quite care. “I didn’t want him to leave, and he did. He went off to have his perfect life without me. So please, do not sit there and whine to me that he did not _love_ you.”

She looked away quickly, her cheeks turning red. “I didn’t mean to - I mean to say...I just wanted to know.”

“Know _what_?” Lin asked sharply, noticing Pema’s fluster and her own anger beginning to grow. “Know if your husband and I did anything inappropriate behind your back?” She laughed, throwing a hand up into the air and letting it hit the tabletop with a jolting smack. “Not like the two of you did behind mine, let me tell you.”

“Tenzin and I - we never did anything behind your back!” Pema said, her lips turning down into a scowl that looked very out of place. “We didn’t!” she insisted when it was clear her words weren’t believed.

“He was lying to me then and you are lying to me now, please, just stop.” Lin took a breath to allow herself to calm down, refusing to let herself yell the way she wanted to. “This is not something I want to talk about,” she said after another moment. “Is there anything else you want to ask before I leave?”

The younger woman shook her head, pursing her lips. Lin stood. “I did not mean to hurt you, Pema,” she muttered, “and I am sorry this is how things worked out for you.”

She walked away from the table, not looking back as she stepped out into the chilly afternoon.

xXx

Lin returned to her office in silence, ignoring everyone she passed on the way regardless of their questions for her. She closed the door as soon as she was inside and sat behind her desk. That conversation was one she had to have, but it weighed heavily over her shoulders. A note scribbled on a scrap piece of parchment caught her attention and she picked it up, reading in one of her detective’s messy script that Tenzin had come by to see her. He’d left.

She frowned and turned to drop the note into the heating grate behind her, watching for a moment as it caught flame and turned to ash. Her eyes caught on Mako’s neat pile of reports from the night before and, as she said she would, she picked them up and finally began to read through the information he had gathered with a close eye. 

Eight robberies had occurred the previous night, all within thirty minutes to an hour of one another - and all within a ten mile distance. They were all, in fact, in the same area she had been herself for the party, the upper district. The owners had called the police to report them almost immediately, though the thieves had still made off quite well, according to the report. She flipped back a few pages. Mako had pulled several others spanning back two months, and while the area varied each time, the timing was always the same. 

So _fine_ , it was important after all.

“Mako!” she called, knowing he would hear her from where he was sitting at his desk near her office. It only took him a moment to appear. “If you haven’t already worked too long, stay on once Jaluu gets here tonight,” she told him, handing the thick file back. “Go over all of this with him. Call me if another robbery is reported.”

“Are you leaving?” he asked, somewhat surprised as she got to her feet.

She hadn’t planned on it initially, but her office - the entire building - was suddenly very suffocating. She needed to get back outside, walk a little, maybe get her old motorcycle out and drive up to the mountains for a few hours. Anything to get out of there. “Yes,” she told him. “I’ll be back bright and early tomorrow.”


	3. Chapter 3

Lin barely heard as the phone began to ring late that night. She rolled over in bed, feeling Tenzin’s absence, and reached blindly as the shrill rings continued to pierce her dreams. “What,” she muttered, only just able to get the piece to her mouth without dropping it.

“I’m sorry to bother you so late,” Jaluu’s voice came through clearly, and Lin rubbed at her eyes with the heel of her hand. “There was another robbery, I thought you might want to come take a look at the scene.”

“It’s not a bloody one, is it?” she asked, not bothering to hide her distaste.

“No, ma’am, just…messy, I suppose. A lot of broken glass and wood. Everyone is still alive,” he added with a little laugh for her.

She got the address from him and hung up, rubbing her eyes again and sitting up in bed. The space next to her was empty and cold. Tenzin hadn’t been here when she returned from her trek to the wilderness late in the afternoon in an attempt to gather her thoughts back together, though he had left a very sweet message for her on the table ( _I love you and I am sorry I missed you at your office today, I will see you tomorrow_ ). 

She couldn’t hide how much she missed him, now that they were free to spend their lives together as they wished, but she understood he needed to be with his family as well. And besides, she had grown so accustomed to being alone over the years; a few nights more during the week hardly made a dent when he came back.

Stifling a yawn, she stretched and forced herself out from under the warm blankets, feet meeting the chilly wooden floors. It only took minutes to wash her face and pull her armor on before she was walking out into the street.

Thankfully, this particular crime scene was not far. She found it quickly. The couple who owned the house was standing in the street with Mako and another officer being interviewed, but Lin bypassed them and went straight for Jaluu, who was standing on the landing leading inside. He saw her and lowered into a polite bow, which she waved off. 

“Tell me,” she demanded.

“This is the second one tonight,” he said, gesturing for her to enter the house in front of him. “From what the witnesses are telling us, someone distracted them at the front here, where we are, while his accomplice came in through the back and cleared out all the jewelry. They also got a good handful of cash and little bits and pieces from the path through the house up to the bedroom where the jewelry was. Everything they took is worth something.”

“And the first hit?”

“Similar story.”

Lin nodded, stepping around him and the two photographers on scene focusing on a broken window. “Have you found any evidence?”

“There was this,” Jaluu told her, pulling out a small evidence bag with a sliver of cloth inside for her to study. It appeared to be torn from a larger piece, likely off one of the thieves as he either came inside or left. “There was also a small bit of blood there on the window, from the shattered frame. I guess I accidentally lied to you before,” he said with a little chuckle, “sorry. But whoever reached their arm inside to unlatch the window will have scratches. They may have been deep, I’ve already asked the hospital to be on alert for us.”

“Chief, Sergeant,” an officer called from outside the back door. “We have some fresh footprints. They’re right on top of the snow, looks like several sets from three different people.”

“Get some good pictures of those,” Lin told a photographer before turning to Jaluu again. “Send two of your officers to follow those prints as far as they can. I’m going to walk through the rest of the house.”

xXx

The footprints wandered and broke off several times, but they appeared to have originated at an ink shop. Nothing special about the shop, really. One could buy inks, brushes, and fine parchments there. Nothing close to stolen goods. Mako was pulling up any additional information on the store and its owner, but so far that was the only lead of any kind they had, as the officers had not been able to find the ending point to the footprints before losing them to freshly falling snow.

“Here, Chief,” Mako said with a tired bow, handing her the report. “May I go home now?”

“Go.” 

She took the stack of papers from him, already looking over them as he left her office. She’d have to talk to him eventually about working too long, tiring himself out as often as he did. He was too young to be throwing himself into this place the way he - 

A name on the top paper in the file caught her eye, breaking into her thoughts. She pulled the piece all the way out, holding it up to see better. It was about halfway down, after all the legal writing and initialling and such. The name of the man who owned the shop, of course, and then the person who actually owned the deed to the property, who the shop owner paid his rent to.

Tsung. The same man Tenzin was in dealings with now to secure funds from to restore the Air Temples.

Lin slid the paper back into the file and closed it. Surely it was a coincidence. It had to be. Tsung owned many properties in the city, that was how his wealth became so expansive. He had a nose for business, was all. It _had_ to be. But at the same time...

Very slowly, she got to her feet and bit her lower lip for a brief second before releasing it again. His personal file would be in the archives, everything about his background and his family, any criminal activity he may have been involved in during his youth, anything more recent. All she needed to do was look, it would only take fifteen minutes once she found it.

Her stomach flipped. If she found something...it would cost Tenzin so much more than it would cost her. Tenzin’s entire dream would fall in around him, just as it was beginning to take shape.

She walked toward the door, opening it and looking out at the several detectives working quietly at their desks, some filling in paperwork, others studying files looking for information, three talking amongst themselves over a difficult case, one with his head down flat on the desktop covered with two days’ worth of trial notations. They didn’t notice her appearance in the doorway as she watched them. Her life, sitting in this room, spread through this building.

But Tenzin...she owed it to him, to be sure this man who was so enthusiastic in helping him was as truthful as he seemed. She cared about him too much to let it go, now that the thought was wiggling in her mind. She wouldn’t find anything, she was sure she wouldn’t.

The archives were in the basement of the precinct, sprawling over the entire floor yet still very neat and orderly as they encased everything from old cases to information on the city’s citizens. There were several librarians who worked down here, tireless in their ability to keep everything orderly and running smoothly, but she knew where to go to find what she wanted and she nodded to the young woman on duty and continued by her without pause.

Tsung’s file was small. She pulled it out of the tall cabinet and leaned back against the one behind her, opening it slowly to thumb through the loose pages inside. A copy of his birth certificate, a marriage license, three additional birth certificates for his sons. There were several property deeds behind these. One for his house, of course, though it turned out he owned a good deal of land in the Earth Kingdom, as well as several stores and apartment buildings in the city. He had no criminal record. All wealth of his own making.

As Lin started to flip the cover of the file closed with a soft sigh of relief, another name caught her eye. Tau Be, Tsung’s eldest son. She recognized that name.

Chest starting to feel tight again, she set Tsung’s file down at her feet and reached for the drawer again to find Tau Be’s. It was behind his father’s, and she pulled it out. This one was much thicker, especially for someone only in his mid-twenties, and she hesitated for only a moment before crouching down onto the balls of her feet to prop it open against her thighs.

The criminal records were all here. He had been arrested more times than she could count on both hands, the stack of intake forms so thick they almost exploded out of the file. She took the top one, reading through it quickly. _Robbery_. Second, _robbery_. Third, _assault_. Five more assault charges, several for public drunkenness, a handful of additional robberies. Every charge had been dropped, the red ink at the bottom of each form denoting the date and time it was pushed aside. The most recent was less than a week ago. 

Lin’s hands began to shake. She set the papers on the ground and sat amongst them. Robbery. It was right there. With the footprints leading back to his own father’s property… And then his father making the charges disappear, because it _had_ to be Tsung’s doing, either paying off the victims of the crime to drop them or bribing one of her officers to do it for him.

She looked very quickly at the seal on each form, sucking in a breath through her nose and letting it out slowly. They were all different, save two. A different officer handled the cases, so it most likely was not bribery on this side. At least there was that.

But still - she spread the contents of Tau Be’s file around her, trying to coax out the image that was attempting to come together in her mind. Something was here. Something larger than petty thefts and a wealthy father keeping his son out of jail. She pulled forward the pages containing information on the assaults, eyes skimming over the details of each one. Two were bar fights, coinciding with the public drunkenness he had also been charged with. One was against a young woman, who had dropped the case only a day later. There was a number scrawled in a box on this form denoting a connected case, and she set the parchment aside to come back to. The last three were all brought by the same young man. Or at least, the kid’s father. 

The robberies, it appeared, were all small affairs. He broke into shops after hours - all on property owned by his father, though called in by the owner of the store - and stole petty little things. Only two of these were anywhere near the scale of the break-ins currently happening, and he was always caught alone when leaving those homes, all the items returned. And then, predictably, charges dropped.

Lin gathered everything back together again and closed the file. Hesitating for only a moment, she rose to her feet and took both Tsung’s and Tau Be’s to the front clerk to officially check them out of the archive.

xXx

It was after eight that evening when Lin returned home. The smell of warm food greeted her as she let herself inside, dusting snow from her hair and shoulders. She smiled widely, pushing the tension from her body as she set the files she had brought with her down on the small table in her entryway and turned to take off her coat to hang up.

Tenzin was on her in an instant, sweeping across the expanse of the room with a small burst of air that blew around her as he approached. His arms encased her waist from behind as she finished setting her coat over a hook near his cloak, his face lowering to kiss the sliver of skin exposed above the armor around her neck and then up to the soft spot behind her ear.

“I missed you,” he murmured.

“I can see that,” she replied with a sly grin, turning her head to look at him.

He raised a hand to brush her hair aside, pressing his lips higher along her neck and away from the metal hiding the rest of it. She could feel his chest pressing firmly against her back and she sank into him, melting as he inhaled deeply against her. “All right,” Lin pretended to admit with an airy laugh, canting her head to the side to give him more access to her skin. “Maybe I missed you, too, just a little.”

“Only a little?” he joked softly.

She hummed her response, caught up in his mouth moving around her neck toward her jaw, and she allowed herself to get lost in the moment. She truly had missed this. Not just over the last day, but during the years he had been so obviously absent from her life, when they had been apart for far too long. She had tried to convince herself in the beginning losing him was not as horrible a blow as it had been, and it had worked for a long while, but the moment their friendship had begun to take hold again as they fought Amon…

Lin turned in his arms, her hands coming up to gently frame his face and guide his lips to hers. She felt his smile, and his grasp around her tightened, holding her to him closely.

He kissed her slowly for several long moments before pulling away, pressing his face to her neck and the warmth coming through her armor there. “Are you hungry?” he asked quietly. “I made dinner.”

“I am hungry, how could you tell?” she said with a grin.

Tenzin took her hand and pulled her away from the door. “What did you bring home?” he asked, nodding toward the files still on the table as they walked away.

“Oh.” Lin paused, letting him draw her toward the kitchen and the delightful smell of food. His question was innocent, without a hint of frustration or anger, and he truly was interested to know what she was working on. But she also knew that the contents of those files held great potential to hurt him. “We’ve had some robberies the last few weeks,” she began to explain. “It all seems rather organized, and I’m looking into...some people who might be good for running the whole thing.”

“Anyone important?”

“Tenzin…” She stopped in the doorway, tugging her hand away from his as he walked toward the stove. “Oh, Tenzin, I think Tsung is involved,” she said, the words pouring out before she could think any more about it.

He turned to look at her, his expression confused and making her heart constrict. The confusion vanished a moment later, replaced by a stubborn firmness, and he turned his attention back to the large pot of stew needing to be stirred. He picked up the wooden spoon but didn’t move any more than that. “You must be mistaken.”

“Tenzin -”

“He is going to _help_ us, Lin,” he said softly, anger starting to show. “You’re wrong.”

“I might be,” she conceded gently, taking the few steps into the kitchen to his side. She touched his arm, feeling the tension pulling his body tight. “I haven’t had a chance to fully investigate,” she continued, “I only just started this morning. There is nothing concrete against him at the moment.”

“So you have nothing,” Tenzin snapped. “Nothing at all. Why are you pushing this? Not even a day after he agreed to donate so much money to a cause I have been fighting for for years.”

He suddenly pushed past her back out into the hallway. She reached for him, but he was already beyond her grasp, using his bending to his advantage to put distance between them. “Where are you going?” she cried, growing angry now as well. “I want to talk, not argue!”

He spun, still too far for her to reach, and said, “I cannot believe you would do something like this!”

“Tenzin, I am not doing this to hurt you! _Hey_!” She used her own bending to warp the doorknob before he could escape the apartment completely. Fair was fair. “Do not run away from me again, not like you did the other night,” she growled. “Though if you really want to get away from me that badly, break the door. I dare you.”

That seemed to sap all the anger from him, and his posture deflated, his shoulders slumping. Lin went to him quickly, cupping his face with her hands and bringing his gaze to hers. “This yell and run act we used to do, this is how our relationship started to explode so many years ago. Let’s not do that again, please. Talk to me. What’s going on?”

“I’m sorry, Lin,” he muttered, closing his eyes and pressing against her.

“You don’t need to apologize,” she told him, “just _talk to me_.”

“I don’t want to lose this.” He lowered his head to hide against her hair, and she removed her hands to wrap her arms up around his back. “His money...the difference it would make for my nation, I can’t just...I can’t watch that fade away. My people need me to protect them, to help them…”

“Oh, Tenzin, you don’t need this man in order for you to help your nation. All they care about is _you_ , not his money. Losing his donation won’t hurt them at all.”

“But how will I ever restore the temples before they crumble, prevent the continuing damage that has already started…” He paused, and she felt his breath puffing out into her hair. She held him tighter, waiting for him to continue. “How will I do any of the things I need to do without help?”

“You can’t accept his money if it has been gained illegally, whether I arrest him or not,” Lin told him softly. He nodded silently, understanding and no longer fighting it. “But you _have_ help, Tenzin. I’m here, I will do whatever I can for you.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick note for you wonderful readers: I am getting ready to move. I am going to try to update next week and the week after as I have been, but don't panic if you don't see anything from me for the next week and a half or so. It may take a bit longer than I want to get settled (and get my internet set up). I will definitely be back, both to finish this and to post new stories!

The case connected to one of Tau Be’s assaults happened to be a vast fraud ring that had just recently been closed. Eighteen people were arrested, all serving several years now in the city’s jail. One of those people was the woman who had pressed the charge against Tau Be and then so quickly dropped it again. Lin made a quick call when she arrived to work the following morning to make arrangements to see her as soon as possible, and the warden promised to have the woman brought to an interview room in the prison within an hour.

She had not yet told anyone else aside from Tenzin of her suspicions, and he had listened calmly as she brought him back to the kitchen for dinner. It was her plan to investigate alone, without throwing a spotlight on anyone in Tsung’s family unless she absolutely had to. That meant not including Jaluu or any of her detectives until she had a sure lead one way or another.

“Lin?”

She removed her hand from the receiver of her telephone, where she had left it as she lost herself in thought, and blinked, coming back to see Tenzin entering her office. “Hi,” she said with a lopsided grin. “What are you doing here? I only left thirty minutes ago.”

Still, though, she stood as he walked toward her, reaching out to accept his touch and his chaste kiss. He brushed the backs of his fingers across her cheek before stepping back, letting a more professional amount of space open between them. “I was on my way to City Hall,” he said, “I thought I would stop in.”

Lin smiled silently at him, her eyes meeting his and moving briefly over his face, taking in every line and contour. A wave of contentment washed over her very quickly, making her limbs warm with his nearness. She was happy to see him. She was happy that she could touch him without guilt or fear of someone noticing. She was happy he came to see her as often as he did, bringing his love and his presence into her consuming work.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“For what?” he asked, returning her smile and taking her hand when she made no motion to return to her desk. A small gesture that meant the world to her.

“For caring,” she replied simply. She squeezed his fingers and, not waiting for him to respond, continued to change the subject. “I was just about to head out again for the prison to talk to someone about the case we were discussing last night. Would you like to join me?”

“I promised the children I would be there for their training this morning. I think Jinora is tiring of having to be in charge of her siblings and wants to be taught again for a few hours,” Tenzin added with a small chuckle. “I’m going to pick something up from my office and head over to the island to spend the day with them. But I appreciate the offer, Lin, truly. I’ll be home with you tonight, will you fill me in then?”

Lin pulled her hand free of his and raised it to his face, drawing him down to press her lips to his cheek. She lingered there for a moment before pulling away. “Of course. I will tell you every little thing that happens today.”

“Are you sure it’s safe for you to be looking into all of this alone?”

“Absolutely,” she told him firmly, rubbing her thumb over his skin to soothe his worry the moment she felt it start to rise. “There is nothing dangerous about any of this, I’ll be fine. Mere information gathering. Boring, really.”

Tenzin walked with her to the entryway of her office, taking her coat from the rack and holding it up for her to slide on from behind. He pulled her hair gently from the collar before she could do so herself. Lin reached for the door, about to open it fully, but she paused and suddenly pushed it all the way closed with a soft click as the latch caught and turned around to look at him.

“Are you all right, Tenzin?” she asked, studying him closely. “Your temper the last few days has been worse than mine, I’m worried about you.”

He was silent for a moment, dropping her steady gaze and looking over her shoulder at the photograph taken at her inauguration as Chief so many years ago, hanging on the wall by the door. The medal she had been given, awarding her the new rank, was framed just underneath it beside her mother’s. Her lips were quirked, in that grainy black and white picture, a tiny, almost imaginary smile that could not be seen in her eyes. People had fawned over it as she graced the cover of the newspapers for nearly two weeks, their young hero walking in Toph’s footprints to keep their city safe from chaos and threats and fear. Lin did not like the photograph; it only brought back memories of times she would rather forget, of her mother and sister leaving, and of the responsibility she thought she had wanted.

“I suppose,” Tenzin said after another minute of quiet between them to bring their conversation back around, “I am just having a bit more difficulty dealing with change than I thought I would. I did not think it would be quite this hard.”

Lin stepped forward, putting a finger under his chin to bring his eyes up to hers again. He looked at her sadly, and she could feel his pulse quicken with anxiety as they breathed together with his confession. “I understand,” she told him, her voice kind to immediately dispel any worry he may have had of pushing her away. “Tenzin, I understand. As much as we love each other, we couldn’t just snap our fingers and go back to the way things were. You have your family now,” she whispered, stroking his cheek, “and Pema, and you have to balance all of that with guiding an entire nation. You did not have those things on your shoulders before.”

“And with you,” he interrupted gently. “I do not want to be without you, Lin.”

She smiled at him, one that did reach her eyes - a smile so few other people ever saw. “Yes,” she agreed. “You have all those things now. And I...I’ve been alone for so long, myself, that I have grown used to simply living that way, with only my work to consume my time. I will have to get used to the fact again that I have someone else to live for, to _truly_ live for, and not merely a memory of something lost. All I ask for, Tenzin, is your patience.”

“You have it. Oh, Lin, you have it and so much more.” He reached up, cupping both hands to her face and leaning in to press his forehead to hers. “I am sorry for ever losing my temper with you,” he said softly, the sincerity so sure it warmed through her. “This pressure just keeps building around me and I do not know how to continue handling everything I must do. Leading a nation is overwhelming, how my father...how _anyone_ does this is beyond me.”

Lin wrapped her fingers around one of his wrists. “I am here for you, Tenzin. Let me help you.”

“You already do so much…”

“I do my job, is all,” she said with a little lopsided grin. “I want to _help you_. There’s a bit of a difference. Let me share your weight and all of the stress that comes with it. Please.”

“All right,” he agreed, finally giving the words a quiet breath of life. 

She felt his posture change as he did, his muscles relaxing through his back and shoulders. She relaxed with him, falling forward slightly to let her chest rest against his, and she brought her arms down to wrap around his waist when his fingers curled into her hair. “Everything will be fine. We’ll both be fine.”

“We’re together now,” he continued for her, tilting his head so their noses brushed until he was able to press their lips together for the briefest second. When he pulled away again a moment later, she could still feel him against her, close and warm. “That is so important to me, being with you. I never want to lose you again.”

“You won’t. Your rare foul moods won’t scare me off so easily.” 

Her smile broadened, eyes moving up to meet his so he would hear her joke and the affection behind it. “We still have to find our way,” she murmured, shifting to let her mouth move against his as she spoke, “but I am not afraid - and I am not going anywhere. We’ve been through too much to let our future together go to waste.” She raised a hand to run across his cheek before letting it rest around the back of his head, pulling him into her kiss.

The ringing telephone on her desk broke the moment quite abruptly. She dropped her head to his shoulder with a frustrated sigh, turning her face to scowl at the jangling phone as it continued to ring. Tenzin laughed softly, running his hand through her hair once and then lightly across her jaw to bring her attention back to him, even if she did keep her head pressed near his neck, taking in the heat of his body.

“You have things to do,” he said, grinning down at her. “Go. I’ll see you soon.”

Lin ignored her phone until it fell silent and then raised her head all the way to fully meet his eyes. “Your temples will be rebuilt, Tenzin,” she told him confidently. “Let me handle whatever is going on with Tsung and then we can find the next step with the Air Nation, all right? _Together_. You will not be doing any of this alone.”

xXx

The woman, who had given her name as Kiki during her several encounters with police, was waiting under guard in the earthen-tiled visitor’s room at Lin’s request by the time she arrived. This was a room used for the lower-security inmates when their families arrived to see them, the ones who did not pose any kind of threat, and she wanted to be able to interrogate this woman without having to go to much difficulty herself - or without putting her on guard. Reading her responses through the softly packed clay would work perfectly for that.

“You can leave us,” Lin said to the guards as she sat at the table across from Kiki. The woman glared at her, but the guards nodded politely and walked out of the room.

“What do _you_ want?” Kiki asked the moment the door swung closed behind the guards to leave them alone.

Lin studied her in silence for a moment, taking in her young but already aging face; the way her narrowed, restless eyes were always moving; the agitated tapping of her heel against the ground and the jostling movement of her leg. “I have a few questions for you,” she said softly, forcing her to listen as she placed both Tsu Be’s and her own file on the table.

Kiki leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. “I already told your cops everything I know about the fraud stuff,” she snapped. “I have nothing else to say. Not to you, not to anyone else. I’m just going to do my time and get out of here.”

“I am not here about whatever you were involved in with this ‘fraud stuff’” Lin said, her eyes flicking up to meet and hold hers. “I am here about what I assume is a completely different matter.” She opened Tau Be’s file and removed the form she had filed with his assault against her, sliding it across the smooth surface of the table in her direction.

The woman paused for a brief moment, her gaze still locked with Lin’s, before reaching out to reluctantly take the paper and looking fleetingly over it to see what it was she was supposed to recognize. “No.” The word was quick and harsh, and Kiki smacked the form back onto the tabletop face down, her hand flat over the back. “I am not talking about this, either. I don’t care who you are.”

“I see.”

Lin could feel her anxiety through the floor and could see it just as easily when her leg began to bounce even faster, but she silently tugged the paper away from under her hand and put it back in the file again as though she had no more interest. It only took a second longer before Kiki spoke, her voice spilling out like a small flood.

“It was all a mistake,” she said. “It was. Look, I just got caught up in something I didn’t understand. I got myself out of it. If I say anything now our deal will break, I can’t do that. I like my freedom.”

“You don’t look very free to me,” Lin pointed out with a raised eyebrow, giving her just enough to keep talking without realizing how much she was saying.

“I’m free from his entire fucking family!” Kiki retorted angrily. She leaned forward in the chair, face angry. “They’re all crazy, every one of them. This…” She waved her hand in the direction of the file and the charge. “This was just the last straw, I couldn’t take it. I wanted to get out, and his father told me I couldn’t leave unless I took it all back.”

“So he did hurt you?” The question was quiet this time, holding much more compassion than anything else so far.

“Yes,” Kiki bit out. “We worked together. About two years ago, he asked me out and...I don’t know, I guess I loved him. It all seems so blurred now. We were engaged for a few months before I realized I just couldn’t do it.”

Lin was quiet for a moment, letting Kiki gather herself again when she felt the fury pouring out into the earth below her feet. “This deal you mentioned,” she said softly. “What were you referring to? Did Tsung and Tau Be put some kind of restriction over you when you broke your engagement?”

Kiki laughed bitterly, looking away toward the windows set high in the wall near the ceiling. Very little sunlight was coming in, kept at bay by the thick snow-filled clouds. “It appeared our entire engagement was some kind of arrangement between Tau Be and his dad, I never had any say in what he did. So yeah, I guess you could say they gave me some ‘ _restrictions_ ’ when I wanted out of that pit. One of those is _not talking about it_ ,” she added pointedly.

“Listen to me,” Lin told her, moving the files aside and waiting until she met her steady gaze again. “I am not opening an official investigation into anything yet, and I will not use what you tell me if it will put you in danger. I promise you, I will keep you safe. Whether that means relocating you when your sentence here is finished or by putting Tsung and his son in jail if I find cause, no further harm will come to you. But in order for me to help you, I will need to know where to even begin.”

She thought about this, her heart thudding quickly and sending the heavy waves through the tiles. Finally, Kiki sighed and placed her hands on the table, looking down at her fingernails listlessly before splaying her fingers flat. 

“I’m probably going to dig myself into a bit of trouble here, telling you all this,” she muttered under her breath, “but I helped Tau Be - or his dad, really - launder money. I have a brain for it, you know, money and numbers. His father has a bunch of shops or something. I don’t know if he owns them or just owns the properties or what, but all I needed was access to the financial records. Just a few changes here and there - ” She waved her hands in a small, half-hearted gesture. “The yuans poured in from all over, into his family bank account. None of the store owners ever noticed.”

Lin was quiet, taking in as much as Kiki was willing to tell her. She paused to take a tired breath before continuing. “I worked for them that way for the entirety of my relationship with Tau Be. They have a bunch of other people working for them like that, too, I never met any of them. We’re all paid pretty nicely, but part of my...leaving negotiation included returning anything left I hadn’t already...well, _spent_. It’s why I went to work for Khan before I was arrested, doing - what I was actually arrested for. I was broke.”

This was all completely new information, and Lin’s heart began to sink even if she had almost been expecting it. There had been a part of her still holding out hope - mostly for Tenzin - that everything she had found before this meeting was coincidental and able to be explained away. Tsung’s guilt was undeniable now.

“I think…”

Lin brought her gaze to the young woman again as she began to speak into the silence around her. Kiki’s face was drawn and rather sad as she looked up to the windows and the dim sun trying to come through.

“I think they have some other stuff going on, too. Nothing really bad, not like the Agni Kais or anything like that, right, but Tsung is so money-hungry. When they threatened me to keep my mouth shut after...after Tau Be hit me, when I left, I took him seriously.”

“Kiki,” Lin murmured, her voice sympathetic, “what did they say to you that scared you so badly?” 

“I don’t...I don’t want to talk about it.” She shook her head and diverted her gaze away from Lin’s “Just leave me out of whatever happens next, _please_. I don’t want to be brought back into any of that, I never want to see Tau Be again.”

“I’ve already given you my word that I will keep you safe, and I will. You do not have to worry about that.” 

Kiki looked at her, the anxiety easing from her features as, likely for the first time, she understood exactly who she was speaking with. “Thank you,” she whispered. She cast a quick glance over her shoulder, toward the closed door, before saying, “I know there were some pretty shady people working for him, too. For Tsung, I mean. Tau Be’s friends. Tau Be tried to be like them, sneaking around, breaking into places and getting into fights - but his little posse was a lot better at it. Once - once I was at Tsung’s house, just hanging around waiting for Tau Be, and found a room filled with really nice stuff, just sitting on shelves like a weird museum. I didn’t stick around to look, but it felt off, you know what I mean?”

“Yes,” Lin agreed with a nod. “I do.”

“So,” Kiki said with a mirthless laugh. “How much more am I charged with now? I’m probably never going to get out of here, am I?”

“I am not charging with you anything.” Lin gave her a small, fleeting grin. “I didn’t hear anything, did I? And even if I did, I suppose I did _force_ you to tell me whatever may have passed between us. I can’t arrest you based on that.” She rose to gather her papers together to leave, and she paused for a moment. “If you need anything at all after this, please do not hesitate to contact me directly. Do you understand? I will not forget the predicament you have put yourself in to assist me.” 

The smile she received in return made everything worth it, and in that moment she remembered why she loved what she did. Helping people was her life.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick reminder for you wonderful readers: I am getting ready to move this week. I am going to try to update next week as I have been, but don't panic if you don't see anything from me for the next week and a half or so. It may take a bit longer than I want to get settled (and get my internet set up). I will definitely be back, both to finish this and to post new stories!

It was easy for Lin to gain access to Tsung’s financial records. All she needed to do was ask nicely and his bank handed them right over, long scrolls written out by his personal accountant and brought for the bank to look over and add to their own. They even offered to give her access to his vault and safety deposit box, wanting to be as accommodating as possible, though Lin politely declined, citing a simple need to check a few things over in regard to ‘a few robberies in his area’. 

He would find out she was looking at things before too long, but hopefully if she kept what appeared to be a tactful distance he wouldn’t give it a second thought. As far as Tsung knew, he was still working with Tenzin to rebuild the Air Temples; that alone warranted at least a quick glance at his finances. And all Lin needed now that she knew what to look for was even the tiniest number to be out of place before she would be able to open a true investigation. 

She sat on the small couch in her office, one of the scrolls open in her hand as she read through the rows and columns of numerical information. Tsung’s wealth was vast. It would have been impressive if such a majority hadn’t been gained through illegal means. 

Lin discarded the current scroll for another, eyes moving quickly through it. Suddenly a figure caught her attention. This was supposed to be a record of his income through property value - what his renters paid bi-weekly, marked into individual rows for each merchant. The columns coming down marked the weeks of each month, the boxes at each row-column containing that particular amount of income. And there, just there, a small fluctuation between this year’s and the previous year’s for one merchant when no notation had been made of an increase.

She rolled the scroll flat on the table in front of her couch, using weights to hold the edges, and reached for the one she had been looking at a few minutes ago with the same information from that previous year to put out beside it. She only remembered the one, but perhaps…

There, a second. This one only had a tiny increase of three yuans, a third of two yuans, and a fourth of three. She found an additional twenty with discrepancies like this - small enough for the business owners not to notice if they did not pay enough attention every pay period, yet large enough at the same time to make a significant difference to Tsung’s annual income. He even wrote everything down, just like this, to avoid a possible audit of his accounts from finding anything out of place. 

Unless, of course, they knew what to look for. Thanks to Kiki, Lin did.

She scribbled out her notes on a separate piece of parchment, paying careful attention to all of those small differences to be sure she didn’t miss any. Tsung’s larger bank statements, those notating overall income and any miscellaneous withdrawals or deposits, were just as interesting. The deposits from his properties matched the graphs she had already been studying, but there were several very large monetary incomes, all gathered and deposited twice a month, that had no obvious source.

These varied in amounts, from ten thousand yuan to one than was over eighty thousand. This money, Lin was sure, came from whatever collection of stolen valuables he was keeping inside his home, either selling them off or exporting to buyers in other countries when enough time had passed. Brilliance and extortion, rolled into one mind. Because truly, there was no denying Tsung was a brilliant man, to have schemed all of this for so long. These records only went back ten years, but he had to have been working on his personal empire for most of his adult life.

What kept eating at her, though, was there was also no denying that his heart was in the right place when he offered to help Tenzin. His offer was genuine.

She rolled the scrolls up again and slid the bank’s seal around them all, leaning back into the stiff cushions of her couch when she was done and putting a hand over her eyes. She needed to see Tenzin. She wanted to show all of this to him, point out every detail she had found and know his eyes saw the same things.

He was still at home on the island with his family. Lin had not set foot there since Tenzin and Pema had dissolved their marriage. This wasn’t necessarily because she was avoiding anyone there - Pema or the children, or even any of the acolytes who had mostly decided to turn their backs on her - but rather because she did not want to cause any more waves between Tenzin and the ties he still had left between them all. She had left them all alone, keeping to the world she and Tenzin were creating outside of that space.

But, of course, she couldn’t live that way forever. The island had been her home just as much as his growing up. And now, regardless of the way things had changed, she still deserved to be there.

Lin stood, taking a moment to stretch her arms over her head to tempt the ache from her lower back, and gathered her coat and a bag for the many scrolls she wished to bring.

xXx

The acolytes running the ferry, at least, were pleased to see her after so long and she gave them a small wave as she left their vessel for the dock. It was a nice feeling, the familiar earth under her feet, and she climbed the stone steps to the temple proper. Laughter and the chatter of his children met her ears before she reached the top of the rise, and she paused for only a second before coming to the final landing.

Ikki saw her first, her young face already turned in her direction as she watched Pokey soar overhead to catch a bug. 

“Lin!” she cried in delight, bringing around the attention of her siblings with the single word. The three of them lunged forward, Ikki and Meelo using their bending to propel with the wind to quickly wrap her in a tight hug, their thin arms around her waist. Jinora came up behind them, a wide smile on her face as Lin gently pushed the other two off of her. Rohan came toddling forward, wanting in on the affection his brother and sisters were showing, and Ikki turned for a moment to take his hand.

“We were just about to have a race!” she said excitedly. “Do you want to play with us? You can be the referee. We were going to have Rohan do it, but he wants to follow us, he’s not very good at refereeing. Or you could use the earth to race with us! Could you do that? I bet you cou-”

“Are you here to see Dad?” Jinora asked, interrupting her sister and ignoring Ikki’s angry glare.

Meelo had attached himself to Lin’s arm this time. “Why don’t you come visit us any more?” he demanded before she could answer Jinora’s question.

“I apologize, Meelo,” Lin told him as delicately as she could, “I have been rather busy lately. I will do what I can do fix that, shall I? Yes, Jinora,” she said, redirecting her attention to the oldest child as she slowly pulled her arm away. “I would like to see your father, please. Do you know where he is?”

“In the kitchen with Mom!” Ikki answered instead. “They’re making lunch. We’ve been practicing our bending _all day_. Do you want to see what we learned? We learned a lot!”

“How about,” Lin said, taking a step toward the house and turning around to continue facing them, “you show me everything you learned later? I do want to see, I just need to talk with your dad first. You can come find me before I leave, all right?”

“Okay!”

Ikki and Meelo bounced away, Jinora walking behind them with Rohan. Lin watched them for a moment before turning to make her way into the main house. Fires were lit to bring warmth to the halls and main rooms, the chill of winter remaining outside, and she was pleased to be welcomed into it. The silence that met her made it clear Korra and her friends were not inside, and she found no one else as she walked toward the kitchen.

“They were marvelous,” Tenzin was saying, his voice floating toward her as she got closer. “Jinora is learning so quickly, I am so proud of her.”

There was a clattering of dishes and utensils, and Pema’s murmuring response. Lin came to the large open doorway and rapped her knuckle on the frame. Pema looked up in surprise, pausing just as she was about to lower a stack of plates onto a tray to take to the dining room. Tenzin turned his head slowly when no one spoke, his expression becoming just as surprised as Pema’s to see her there.

“I hope I’m not interrupting,” she said, giving them both a little quirking of her lips in an effort to smile through the tension that had appeared from nowhere.

“We were just about to sit down to lunch,” Pema replied, a note of breathlessness to her tone. 

No invitation to join followed, not that Lin was expecting one, and she withdrew her arm and let it hang limply at her side. “I will try not to take up too much of your time,” she said truthfully, “I just need to speak with you. Please,” she added as her eyes met with Tenzin’s.

“Of course!”

She gave Pema a small, half-hearted grin that was not returned as the other woman continued to stare at her, surprised to see her in the house at all. “Should we go to my study, then?” Tenzin asked, passing Pema to come stand before her.

Pema’s expression grew absolutely startled and, not wanting to cause any more harm than she already had to his once happily-married wife and the rocky footing she suddenly found herself in with the man she still cared for, Lin shook her head. “We can stay here. I just need to spread some things out on the table, if that’s okay. It’s simply a lot of -” She paused, looking at Tenzin and away again, a wave of unhappiness gripping her. “Some financial records.”

He understood what she was leaving unsaid in those words and his face fell. Lin bit her lip, letting it go again a moment later.

“Pema,” Tenzin said softly, turning to see she was watching their exchange warily. “Why don’t you take these dishes on into the dining room? I’ll bring the dumplings and cabbage when everything is finished cooking.”

She glanced between them, still not speaking, and walked from the room with the plates and serving utensils clutched to her chest. There was a gentle clattering of porcelain in the next room and then her quiet footfalls emerged into the hallway toward the courtyard until they vanished into silence, leaving them alone in the kitchen.

“She asks me to stay,” Tenzin murmured, clearing cooking bowls from the table so Lin would have space to spread out her papers. “Nearly every time, just before I leave to stay with you, she asks if I will stay here.”

Those words cut through Lin’s soul and she took a sharp breath, letting it out quickly. Pema’s pain was her own, so long ago, and it was difficult in that moment to find her footing again through the wave of memories. “She came to see me,” Lin told him, remembering suddenly that he didn’t know this yet. He stopped what he was doing, looking up at her. “The other day. I got home late, you were already gone. Everything with Tsung happened so quickly after that and I suppose I just...let it slip my mind until now.”

“What - what did she say?”

Lin shook her head slightly. Not as a dismissal of his question, but more as a way to clear her thoughts when they were becoming so jumbled. Her chest was beginning to feel tight with anxiety, and she wasn’t sure whether it was coming from what she was here to show Tenzin or from the drastic change in conversation. The quick silence helped, and she met his eyes with a clear gaze.

“Let’s talk about that tonight, all right? I want to show you some things,” she said, setting her bag in one of the chairs and unlatching it to pull out several scrolls. Tenzin took them from her, using the edges of the bowls and a few books as weights to roll them all out.

“I requested Tsung’s bank records this morning,” Lin explained as he began looking over the rows and columns of numbers. “After talking with our very helpful source, I was able to find a handful - well, more than just a handful - of strange deposits and changes to his income over the last few years. Look at all of this, Tenzin.”

He was silent, taking in what she had found with solemn eyes. “So it’s true,” he sighed after a moment, running his fingers over the crisp parchment and down the damning evidence against the man he had been about to accept help from.

“I am so sorry,” Lin whispered. She raised her hand to place on his arm, watching his face with concern.

“What have your detectives said?” he asked, hardly able to look at her.

“I haven’t involved them yet,” she told him with a sad smile. “I wanted to make sure you knew first, that you heard it from me and not elsewhere as baseless gossip.”

“Thank you,” Tenzin murmured. “That means a lot to me.”

She moved her hand down to cover his, running her thumb over his knuckles. “You mean more to me than anything, remember that. I am going to officially open the case when I get back to headquarters, but you needed to know about all of this before anyone else.”

He covered her hand with the one she wasn’t already touching, forcing his gaze away from the scrolls to meet her eyes. “Thank you,” he said again, much more softly.

“You’re welcome,” she replied, though _I love you_ was said just as strongly even if the words were kept between them.


	6. Chapter 6

Lin set her book down in her lap, pulling her feet up under her thighs on the sofa and looking out the living room window to watch the snow falling more quickly than it had all week. It wasn’t very late yet, but the sky was dark, thick clouds obscuring the setting sun and forcing the city into an early twilight. An empty bowl from her dinner and a cooling cup of tea were on the low table in front of her, already forgotten.

She had opened the investigation into Tsung’s finances that afternoon. The case was assigned to Jaluu officially, on the unsaid assumption Tsung was behind the large robberies throughout the city her sergeant was already looking into. She had temporarily reassigned Mako to his unit to assist, given he had found the initial connection between the break-ins, and once she had filed the report to open the case she had taken a step back to let them work without her direct involvement. 

It would look bad, she knew, if she stayed on fully and any lawyers in Tsung’s defence attempted to play the “romantically-involved” card between her relationship with Tenzin and her thirst for Tsung’s guilt. She had no thirst for that, of course, but once word of this investigation got out Tsung would go on the defensive and anything at all was fair game to cast him in an innocent light, including her personal life.

The sound of a key in the lock brought her attention around, and Lin looked toward the front door as Tenzin let himself inside. He came in quickly from the cold and shut the door, immediately brushing snow from his shoulders and arms. “It’s gotten downright freezing out there,” he said when he saw her watching him. “I can’t believe midwinter is still two months away, this weather is ridiculous.”

Lin grinned at him slyly. “Come on over here, I’ll get you warmed up again.”

Tenzin laughed and removed his heavy cloak to hang in the entryway before crossing into the living room to sit on the sofa beside her. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders from the side, resting her head near his neck. He returned the embrace, his own arm finding purchase around her waist as she slid closer.

“You are cold,” she murmured, moving one hand across his shoulder to rub over his upper arm in an effort to get some warmth into the spot. “Do you want some tea? The kettle is probably still warm enough to boil quickly.”

“No, thank you,” he said with a smile, leaning his head down against hers. “I’d rather not move now.”

“I can make it for you,” she offered.

“I don’t want you to move, either,” he said, laughing and tightening his hold on her.

“Ah, I see. Okay, then, no tea. Your loss.” She kissed his cheek and settled her head back against him. “I gave the case to Jaluu,” she said after a moment. “He’d been investigating the robberies, anyway, he seemed to be the proper officer to take it. Mako is going to join his team for the duration. Wouldn’t take no for an answer. That kid, Tenzin.”

“Would you like me to speak with him about boundaries in the workplace?” He chuckled lightly with his question. “He’s taken quite a shine to you over the years, it seems.”

She shook her head, gazing sightlessly at the bookcase against the far wall. The items there needed to be dusted, she realized somewhere in the back of her mind. “No. Or at least, not just now.” They fell silent for a few seconds before she asked quietly, “Did Pema want you to stay tonight?”

The weight of the question was heavy between them, and Tenzin sighed. “Actually, she avoided me the rest of my afternoon with the children. I think your visit unnerved her a bit more than she wanted to admit, even if it was for something rather important to me.”

“Oh.”

Lin didn’t know what else to say. She understood why Pema felt so territorial over Air Temple Island; it had been her home and her domain entirely for over a decade. But at the same time, even if she was still considered the matriarch of the day-to-day activities there, that place had been Lin’s home for much longer than Pema’s. It stung, to know she had been so ostracized from what had once been her safe haven from everything she desired to escape. The island would never truly be her home again the way it used to be. She wondered, very briefly, how Aang would have felt about all of this if he were still alive to see this mired situation. The memory of him only made her feel worse.

Tenzin sensed her change in mood, and he moved his arm slightly where it was at her waist to pull her closer to him and pressed his lips to the side of her face in a sweet kiss. He was silent, waiting for her to speak, and that meant a great deal to her.

She took another moment to collect her thoughts before saying, “Pema wanted to know how long our relationship had been going on before you asked to dissolve your marriage.”

“We never -”

_Never had a relationship_ , is what Tenzin was about to say, but Lin interrupted him gently. “I tried to assure her you were not _completely_ unfaithful to her, though I’m not sure how well she believed me. She’s truly hurting.”

“She’s never spoken to me about any of this,” he whispered, his voice sad. 

Lin couldn’t see his face from where she was leaning against him, even if she could still hear his forlorn expression clearly through his tone. She reached for his hand, squeezing it in hers. “Pema thinks…” She had to pause, taking a breath to keep herself calm despite her spiraling thoughts. “She thinks you never loved her. For some reason unknown to me, she reasoned I would be the best person to comfort her and tell her you _did_. I suppose she just wanted to hear the words from my mouth.”

He didn’t reply, and she turned her head to look at him. “You did love her, Tenzin, didn’t you?”

“Does it matter now?” he asked, meeting her gaze with startled eyes.

“Of course it does!” She surprised both of them with the intensity of her response, and she continued quickly, sitting up and pulling slightly out of his embrace so his arms fell away. “It matters to Pema. She’s aching and all alone, falling asleep at night with no one beside her wondering if everything she had ever known about her life was a lie - if the love she felt for you was never returned. I know what that is like, and it eats your soul away.

“And it matters to _me_!” she pushed on, standing suddenly and turning so her back was to him when she felt a frightening lump in her throat. She never thought she would voice any of this out loud, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself now. “When you left - when you left, Tenzin, the only way I was able to let you go, was by convincing myself you would only leave me for someone else if you _loved her_.” She hung her head, almost ashamed of her outburst though not of the admission. “So you had to have loved her. Otherwise nothing in my life makes sense.”

She heard Tenzin rise behind her and take a few steps, and then his arms were around her, his face against her hair at the side of her head as he held her tightly, his chest solid against her back. 

“I have never loved anyone the way I love you, Lin,” he told her softly, the words brushing over her skin with his breath. “You are my entire world sometimes, it seems, and even during the time we spent apart there were so many days I could not get you out of my mind. You are right,” he added when she swallowed, refusing to allow her tears to leave her eyes. “I did love Pema. I can’t deny that love was never as fierce as what I have for you, despite how I attempted to lie to myself, but I did love her. I still do, for the place she has in my family.”

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, wiping the back of a hand across her cheek. 

He reached up and grasped at her fingers, stilling them and drawing them away from their preoccupied task. “You have nothing to apologize for, Lin,” he said firmly. “Nothing at all.”

“I’m just being silly -” she started to say, but Tenzin hushed her tenderly, kissing her hair and tightening his arms around her.

“No, you are _not_ being silly. You are being _human_ , and there is nothing wrong with that.” He kissed her again, and she leaned back into his embrace. “I will speak with Pema when I am next at the house, see if there is anything I can do to help her heal. In the meantime, Lin, is there anything I can do to help you?”

She turned her gaze down to the floor, taking in his words and letting them calm her anxiety away. “Just be here with me,” she replied. “That is all I need. Only you.”

xXx

Lin allowed herself to sleep in past her alarm the next morning, feeling no guilt when she turned it off before the sun rose and instead of pushing back the covers, she rolled over in bed to curl against Tenzin’s chest. He was just barely awake, having heard her alarm before she silenced it, and he grinned sleepily at her as he wrapped his arms tightly around her body to keep her close.

“Don’t you have to get up?” he murmured, still very hazy.

She began to answer him, though she realized after a moment that he had already fallen back to sleep. She thought it would be easy to follow him but, to her slight dismay, it was not. She stretched out a leg, feeling her skin brush against his, and she smiled in the pre-dawn darkness and let out a little sigh.

Her officers would be fine without her for a while longer. They would probably notice her absence, but that alone wouldn’t matter much. She was surprised by how badly, in that moment, she did not want to leave. She did not want to leave her bed, she did not want to leave Tenzin, she did not want to leave the contentment she was feeling right then. Her world was different than it had been even a year ago, her priorities changed. Even if it was taking a rather large bit of adjustment for them both, being together again, she was not afraid of the path opening before her. Rather, she was ready to embrace it. 

Tenzin moved slightly under her, coming to again with a deep breath let out slowly through his nose. “You’re truly still here?” he mumbled, voice thick with sleep. “I thought for sure I was dreaming a moment ago.”

“No, I’m here,” she said softly, pressing closer to him and running a hand over his chest.

His fingers ghosted up her bare back, light enough across her spine to make her shiver even under the warm blankets, and came to rest over her shoulder blade. “You’re usually long gone by now, I rarely even have a chance to kiss you goodbye.”

“That is because you sleep through my leaving,” she joked with a little laugh, turning her head to look at him. The sun was attempting to rise through the heavy clouds outside, casting the room in a very dim grey light. It was going to be another cold, snowy day, if the unenthusiastic sunrise was any indication, but she smiled widely regardless. “I’m not leaving now,” she continued, pushing herself up slightly on an elbow to come closer to his face, “and since you don’t seem to be asleep any longer, you could give me that kiss.”

“I think I could manage that,” he said with a smile.

Lin returned his smile with a lazy one of her own, leaning down when his hands moved to cup her cheeks. “Glad to hear it,” she murmured, eyes locked with his as their lips just began to brush together.

He slid his fingers back into her hair, pulling her closer as their mouths finally met. She pushed herself up higher on her elbow until she was able to rest her torso over his chest for support, curling the fingers of one hand around the side of his neck. She felt him tighten his grasp in her hair as their kiss deepened, catching slightly on a knot that needed to be brushed out and then releasing the tension when he felt it, too. She grinned against him.

He pulled away after a moment, and she took the opportunity to press her lips to his cheek and then to his warm neck. He sighed, the sound the only one around them, and he lowered his arms to wrap around her back, one hand coming up to cradle the back of her head.

“How long are you going to stay?” he asked breathlessly.

Lin kissed his neck again near his shoulder, thinking over his question as she did. “I almost don’t want to leave,” she admitted softly, ceasing her kisses and lowering her forehead to hide her face against his neck instead.

“So don’t,” Tenzin implored, voice quiet. He turned his head to nuzzle against hers, urging her to look at him. She did, and he spoke when their eyes met, so close together. “You run that entire force so well, Lin. They can function without you for one day, if you do not want to go.”

“You,” she said with a little chuckle, “are a bad influence. Retirement has gone to your head and made you lazy. I have to go, I have things I need to get done today.” Still, though, she didn’t move. In fact, she allowed her body to sink even more against his, wrapping an arm up under his shoulder between the mattress to hold to him tightly.

“I know you have things to do,” he whispered, stroking her back soothingly, “but do you _want_ to go in today? There is a difference.”

She appreciated the roughness of his hand passing over her skin, years of callouses toughening his palms just as they did her own. He felt the same under her, against her, as he always had and the comfort of that was a wondrous thing. “What are your plans for the day?” she asked. It was an obvious tactic to change the subject, but Tenzin didn’t mind.

“The kids and I were going to fly up to the mountains where there is more snow on the ground. They want to go sledding, there should be just enough up there for us to have a great time. Come with us,” he added, craning his head to catch her eyes.

The offer was tempting for a fleeting moment, but she frowned the thought away before it could fully take hold. “I couldn’t do that, I don’t want to intrude. And beside, I really should go into the office. I should have left _already_.”

“Lin.”

She looked at him, her name soft and reassuring as he spoke it, and he smiled gently at her, bringing a hand to her face to run his knuckles across her cheek. “Come,” he said, the request lacking any sort of true demand. “It will just be me and the children, and Opal is going to join us. Come have some fun with us, spend some time with people who love you. I have a feeling you need it.”

“I do need it,” she muttered, almost unwilling to admit it. His hand resumed its passes over her back and she sighed. “I feel as though I am losing sight of myself, Tenzin. The other day, after seeing Pema - everything seemed so out of balance. My life is changing, I understand that, and I am very happy with most of what that brings.” She paused to take his other hand, still against her face, and twined their fingers together so he knew she was referring to him. “I also understand that I cannot continue living the way I have been for so long, and that...it doesn’t frighten me so much, but I am finding some things more difficult than others to let go of - just like you are. Work is one of those things.”

“So in this case, Lin, your work - take small steps.” He brought her fingers to his mouth to kiss them, one by one. “Do not do it for me, do it for _yourself_. Allow yourself to take time on your own every once in a while, without consequence of what is left behind. You deserve it.”

“I suppose I do.”

“No supposing about it.” He smiled at her, angling his head enough to press his lips to her hair and letting the subject change slightly so she would not start to get uncomfortable. “You do not have to come, but we would so love to have you there if you feel the inclination.”

Lin was silent, listening to his heart beating under her ear as he continued to rub her back. The room was brightening around them and by this point, she was certain, her officers were beginning to notice the lateness of her arrival. Still, though, she felt no urge to move, no desire to rummage through all of the paperwork that was waiting for her, to command every tiny detail of what happened that day as people came to her for direction they could easily find on their own. She wanted peace, calmness to center herself again. 

“I want to go with you,” she finally whispered. “I _will_ go.”

His hand stopped its movement so his arm could wrap around her in a tight embrace. “Oh, Lin, that makes me so happy. We can leave later this morning.”

“Hutou is still out sick, I need to call whoever is working at the front desk, tell them I won’t be in,” she mused, starting to grin now as the idea took hold. “Put someone else in charge for the day,” she added with a wider smile, “since I will be gone. We’re going sledding, you said? I haven’t been sledding in years, I don’t even remember the last time. I can’t believe I’m actually doing this. What has _happened_ to me?” She began to laugh, the sound quiet as it bubbled up through her chest and grew louder.

“Nothing has happened to you,” Tenzin chided jokingly, “and your officers will learn to live without you for one day while you go have a bit of fun. It will be like when we were young, won’t it, galavanting off somewhere together?”

“With your children this time. Maybe - maybe next time we will go somewhere just the two of us.”

“I would -”

The phone on the bedside table began to ring, the shrill jangle cutting off his words. Lin looked over at it, taking a deep breath and letting the air out quickly. “Are you going to answer?” Tenzin asked after the third ring.

Lin disentangled herself from him, sliding across the empty space she had left in the bed earlier, and reached for the receiver. It took a surprising amount of effort to keep the bite from her voice when she heard Mako on the other end, asking where she was and if she was all right, it was getting late and she was usually in by now, there were things the detectives wanted her to look over, and on and on. Tenzin rolled over to come closer to her, rubbing his hand over her arm in comfort when she started to become frustrated.

After only a few more seconds of listening to him speak, Lin interrupted Mako’s concerned flow of words and asked to be transferred to the front desk. She was, after all, taking the day off. Someone else could deal with his concerns.

It only took a moment to relay her instructions to the officer at the desk, who took very careful notes, and then she hung up the phone with a decisive little nod.

Tenzin kissed her shoulder blade from behind when she laid back down. “Are you all right?”

“Yes,” she said softly, sinking back against him as he draped an arm over her waist. It was true, though, and a lightness came over her as she realized then she did not have to get out of bed - at least not for a while yet, and not to head into the station. _I’m going sledding_ , she thought with a smile.

“What are you grinning about?” Tenzin asked, leaning over her to kiss the side of her neck over to her jaw.

Lin scooted closer to the center of the bed away from the edge, rolling to her back, and he immediately lowered his head to her throat and down to the hollow between her collar bones. “Spending the day with you,” she answered his question, her eyes closing against the dim sunlight.

“Well,” he murmured against her skin, “let’s start the day out right, then, shall we?”


	7. Chapter 7

Lin returned to work early the next morning, still exhilarated from her time spent with Tenzin and his family the day before. She felt refreshed and better than she had in months, the stress from earlier in the week almost a memory now that she had had time to collect herself again. She had decided as she was falling asleep last night, happy and exhausted not from work, but from playing in the snow for so long, that she would do that much more often - take time off, even just a few hours.

She’d hardly had a chance to sit behind her desk and look over the collection of paperwork left during her brief absence - gathered neatly by Hutou, returned to work and healthy again - when a loud scuffling and several raised voices from the detectives’ workroom snapped her head up.

She jumped quickly to her feet and made for her door, opening it just as someone pushed it forward. Tsung came storming inside, nearly hitting her with the heavy mahogany as he entered her office without permission, four detective and two officers behind him attempting without luck to gently drag him out again as he shrugged off their hands. None of them actually wanted to grab at him and cause a scene, and he was taking great advantage of that.

“I demand to know what the meaning of all this is!” he yelled at Lin the moment his eyes landed on her.

She curled her fingers around the edge of her door, pushing it away from her and swallowing back her initial anger. She nodded a subtle dismissal to the men and women trying to wrangle him but, before she could engage him in any kind of conversation, he rounded on her again.

“It is an outrage - a true outrage - that you would believe me capable of illegal activity!” he said furiously. “After everything I was prepared to do for you and Master Tenzin - well, you can consider my offer completely rescinded, after the thanks I received from _you_!”

Lin closed the door fully to give them privacy and perhaps block some of his raised voice from the ears listening just beyond. “I know some of your properties were searched yesterday,” she said, voice cool. “Did you read the warrants?”

“Of course I did!”

“Then you would know I am not accusing you of anything. I am merely looking into the robberies that have been happening all over the city. One of your stores was brought to my attention as a property that may be involved.”

This seemed to placate him enough to take a seat in one of the chairs in front of her desk, though Lin remained standing and crossed her arms. She watched him closely as he looked around her office, eyes darting over the very few personal belongings she kept here - her bonsai trees; one small photograph of her, Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi when they were children, framed on her desk; the porcelain tea cup that had been her mother’s. Everything else was professional and quite monetarily worthless, she could see the judgement in his gaze.

“I will be serving another warrant today,” Lin told him evenly. “For your home. I am going to be there for this one, to lead the search myself. If you want your lawyers present, call them now.” He looked at her and she narrowed her eyes. “I have no ill will toward you. I am simply following the case where it takes me.”

Tsung opened his mouth to reply, but a knock on her door interrupted whatever he was going to say. Lin was about to call out to the person asking entry to leave, but, as before, the door opened without her permission and this time Mako looked inside for her. His face was concerned and her ire vanished at his expression.

“What?” she asked.

Mako looked at Tsung and then back at her, and Lin raised her eyebrows at him to speak. He paused only a moment longer before saying, “Jaluu never signed the log last night - er, this morning - before leaving. No one has heard from him or from Shun since they left to respond to another burglary call around two.” 

Lin felt a moment of panic clutch at her chest as this sunk in. She took a small, subtle breath to steady her thoughts. “Has anyone tried to radio him?”

“About fifteen times,” Mako said. “More since we realized he was missing. Nothing.”

“I’m sorry, Tsung,” Lin said, not even looking at him as she reached for her coat and began walking out of her office, leaving him behind her, “we’ll have to continue this discussion later. As you can see, an emergency has arisen.”

Mako was close on her heels as she made her way out into the main room. A phone rang, answered by someone sitting at their desk, as she made for the stairs. Tsung sputtered behind her, trying to get her attention again, but she ignored him. Where could he have gone? She would have to pull the call log, find where his last responding call came from, follow his steps from there -

“Chief!”

She stopped just as she was about to leave the room and looked over her shoulder, distracted by the distressed voice. Yufi, the detective who had answered the phone moments ago, was standing from her desk, the receiver still in her hand. Her face was pale, and she looked frightened. “There is someone on the line,” she said. “He says - he says he has Jaluu and Shun, and that he won’t let them go unless you...you drop the investigation into the robberies and Tsung.” 

“Who is this person?” Lin asked sharply, coming to Yufi’s side. Tsung followed her silently, genuinely surprised to suddenly be included in this.

“He says his name is Tau Be, that you should know who he is.”

“My son?” Tsung whispered, shocked now. “But what...why is he doing this?”

Lin continued to ignore him, more worried about her officers than anything else as she watched Yufi hang up the phone when the other end went dead. “Where are they right now?”

“A warehouse by the bay. Do you want me to send all of our available units to -?”

“No,” she interrupted before the detective could make the call. She thought quickly. “I don’t want to startle him into doing anything irrational. I’ll go myself. And you -” she pointed to Tsung, “you’re coming with me. Have as many people as you can on standby, but have them as far back as possible. I do not want them visible.”

xXx

The smell of saltwater was strong through the crisp winter air. Snow swirled by her as Lin peered around the side of a building at the warehouse where Tau Be was holding her officers. Tsung was close at her back, his hands on her arm as he tried to see around her.

“What’s over there?” he asked anxiously. “What do you see? What are you going to do?”

“Shut up,” she muttered, not looking at him as she studied the scene around them. It was the seventh time she had told him to keep quiet and it wasn’t working too well; she wasn’t trying very hard now. There were several warehouses lined here on this side of the city. They stored many things, from fish brought in from the bay to goods imported from the other countries the moment they were unloaded from the cargo ships. This one, the warehouse Tau Be was holed up in, held hundreds of bolts of fabric. It was owned by his father, and the fabric inside was very expensive - or so she was told, in the same breath as he asked her to _please_ not ruin any of it.

Apparently, if Tau Be was to be believed, he was holding Jaluu and Shun with the assistance of two of his friends. She did not know the strengths of these people, whether they had weapons or if they were skilled fighters or had any bending abilities. She pushed Tsung back from her and pressed her foot firmly to the ground, closing her eyes to the rest of the world.

Her seismic waves spread far, passing over her people hidden around the warehouses and reaching out through the building. She quickly found Jaluu and Shun, sitting on the floor between three other people. Her men seemed calm enough, their hearts beating normally as the others paced around them. One stood apart from the others. He - definitely a man - he was nervous, his legs shaking almost too much to hold him steady as he moved forward and backward across the floor. She could sense a small knife, the only weapon with them, but she could not account for strength or bending this way. She released the waves and stood straight again.

“Your son is in there,” she told Tsung. “Along with my officers.”

“What are you going to do?” he asked again, a touch of panic to his words now. “Please, you can’t hurt him. He’s just a child.”

“He is an adult who knows very well what he is doing,” Lin snapped irritably. She glanced at him briefly and away again, planning quickly now that she had a clearer picture of what she was facing. “But he is still a citizen under my care,” she added, “and I will do what I can to keep him out of harm’s way. All I want to do at the moment is speak with him. Do you have any idea why he is doing this?”

Tsung paused, staring at her for a long second and then turning his eyes to the warehouse hiding his son. “Because,” he said with a weary tone, “of my own actions.”

She looked at him sharply. “Because of your illegal business dealings,” she said, not leaving room for a question. “You got your son involved in whatever it is you’re doing, haven’t you?”

“It is a family arrangement!” he snapped, voice low but still holding his ire. He glared at her as she stared at him in growing anger. “He does not do anything he does not wish to participate in. This - ” He gestured toward the building. “This is just him protecting me, attempting to persuade you to leave us alone. Tau Be – he is not accustomed to not getting his way. He was unhappy last night when I told him we were going to have to discontinue working the way we have been.”

“ _Discontinue_ ,” Lin scoffed sourly. “So you truly are behind these robberies. You greedy man, stealing from others to add to your own wealth.” She turned her head away, not wanting to look at his purpling cheeks any longer than she had to. “Stand back, do you understand? Do not get in my way here.”

Tsung nodded, finally doing as she asked and staying behind as she walked out from behind the building giving them cover and into view of the warehouse where Tau Be was holing himself. There were tall windows set into the brick walls near the loading bay’s rolling door, and a head immediately appeared from inside. Lin raised her arms, hands facing outward, to indicate she did not come to break inside, and another head emerged beside the first.

The rolling door moved up just a bit, enough for voices inside to carry out. “What do you want?” someone called.

“I’m here to talk to Tau Be,” she replied, tone steady. She stopped where she was, easily seen by everyone, and dropped her arms. “Is that all right? Can I speak with him?”

There was a shuffling of feet near the door, and then another voice was heard. “Yeah?”

“Tau Be? I came to check on my officers. Are they all right?”

“They’re fine,” he said gruffly, and she saw his shadow through the window as he stood from a crouch at the slats near the bottom of the door. “Are you going to stop looking into my dad? Are you going to drop the case against him?”

Suddenly some of his actions made a bit more sense. Tsung had always bailed his son out of whatever trouble he found himself in using his wealth; Tau Be was attempting to do the same through much more vulgar means. “I can’t do that,” Lin told him very clearly. “Especially now that you have resorted to kidnap and ransom to help your father. The two of you are in a great deal of trouble that cannot be swept away this time. But,” she added, as placating as she could be, “we can still discuss what is happening right now.”

“Kidnap?” he repeated, his voice soft as it echoed off the stone and metal around him. “I didn’t know this was kidnap and ransom.” 

She could tell he had turned his head, the last sentence said to someone else. A murmuring argument was had in return, when suddenly the rolling door was pushed all the way up. Lin tensed, waiting to see what was happening before she did anything else.

Tau Be came to the entryway of the loading bay, his shoulders slumped and ready to surrender. One of his friends was behind him, a supportive hand on his shoulder and saying something encouraging, the words lost on the wind. "I'm sorry," the young man said to his father. "I never wanted it to go this far. I'm done now. We're going to be arrested, aren't we?"

Lin kept her eyes on the last man, standing back with an angry expression on his face, and still near her officers as he did not yet allow them to move. She looked quickly at Tau Be. "Yes," she told him. "This is no longer something that can be overlooked."

He nodded, resigned, and made to step fully outside.

Suddenly a scuffle and a stifled yell from behind him caught everyone's attention. The third man had grabbed Jaluu's hair and pulled him to his feet, tugging his neck back to expose the skin over his armor as he drew out his knife. "Are you really going to give in to them?" he asked incredulously. "You weak little boy! Stay back!" he screamed at Lin before she could do more than instinctively raise a hand out toward her officer. Jaluu stared at her, fear all over his face. "If any of you come closer, I will kill him. I have been telling your dad I could do more for him, and I meant it. This isn't _over_. Tau Be, come back inside."

Lin nodded when he hesitated, and Tsung said out loud, “Do it, son.”

Tau Be backed into the warehouse again, glancing quickly to Lin and Tsung before looking at his friend and his captive. Jaluu was starting to gasp, and he closed his eyes against his panic. Shun, apparently forgotten in the commotion, stood slowly and took a step away.

"I won't move, I promise." Lin held her hands up in a show of goodwill, her heart beating wildly now. "What's your name?"

"Why?" he snarled.

"I need to know how to address you," she replied, voice calm despite her rising alarm. She felt the rest of her team close around her, ready to act the moment they were needed, and she hoped they did not come in too soon.

He was silent for a moment before saying shortly, "Emi."

"Okay, all right." Lin lowered her arms very slowly, leaving them at her side. "Is there something you want, Emi? Something I can help you with? We seem to be a bit stuck here."

"I want you to _leave_ ," he said harshly.

"I can't exactly do that, not while you are holding my detective there hostage."

Emi's expression became furious. "Then I am going to kill him. I am only giving you two -"

Shun threw himself at the man, purposefully knocking Jaluu out of his tight grasp and away from immediate harm. Lin ran forward as he and Emi fought desperately for the knife and she reached the loading bay just as blood began to pour out around them, seemingly from nowhere. Jaluu cried out when Shun fell, and Lin saw in that moment, as Tau Be grabbed Emi back and the dirty knife clattered to the stone floor, that Shun's throat was open and bleeding.

She felt him die before either she or Jaluu could kneel at his side in horror. His blood was already soaking into the stone, staining it deeply.

Jaluu shook his head in disbelief. "No. No, no. Chief, he can't - no - "

Lin stilled his arms before he could try to find a pulse through the mess of skin and blood, her heart shattering as he began to sob in earnest. Her body ached and her mind went numb as she pulled him to her in a rare show of open kindness, letting him collapse against her chest into her embrace while he cried, shaking uncontrollably. 

“Don’t look,” she murmured, bringing her hand up to the back of his head to turn his gaze away by pressing his face down to her shoulder. Her eyes began to sting and she forced the tears away, knowing if she broke, too, nothing would be all right for anyone else. “Don’t look, Jaluu.”

All she could do was rub his back silently as officers swarmed inside and Emi began to scream that it was all an accident, time stopped around them.


	8. Chapter 8

Shun’s funeral was held only several days later, once his family was able to be gathered from across the four nations to come to Republic City, where his parents wanted him laid to rest. Much of the city came to pay their respects to their fallen officer, hundreds of people crammed into the spacious courtyard in front of City Hall. His father spoke at length about his childhood and watching him grow up, and about the impact losing their child would have on their family. Lin, dressed in her uniform and decorated with every medal and accommodation she had ever received, spoke as well at their request. She told everyone as much as she could, about his bravery and heart, about his sacrifice for his fellow officer, and about how that made him worthy of this respect and more.

She didn’t know what else she could say. She had known Shun, about as well as she knew any of her officers. Lin felt, though, as if some outside force was guiding her through all of this. She had been numb since the afternoon he died - her seventh officer lost under her command. Too many.

The sun came out long enough for the burial, snow sweeping in again within the hour. She watched it blowing by out the window, unmoving from the couch in her office. 

A timid knock on her door made her head turn, and she saw Jaluu come inside, his eyes red from shed tears. “May I come in?” he asked, and she beckoned him toward her without hesitation. He closed the door behind him.

“Are you all right?” Lin asked, concerned as she watched him standing so uncomfortably by the door. “Come sit.”

He did, perching tensely on the cushions on the other end of the sofa. “Do you remember, you offered to let me take some time off? I said no then, but I think I actually need it.”

“Of course, Jaluu.” Lin moved closer to him, putting her hand on his shoulder and bringing his attention to hers. She could see now just how drawn and exhausted his face was, and her eyebrows came together. “You can take all the time you need, all right? Just finish up what you can today and head out of here. I’ll take care of everyone in your squad until you return.”

Jaluu nodded and suddenly the tears were falling down over his cheeks again. Lin withdrew her hand, waiting for him to speak. “I don’t understand why he did it, Chief,” he muttered, shaking his head and looking at his hands again. “Shun and I...we didn’t get along - you knew that, I talked to you about him a while ago. I thought he wanted to transfer out of my command.”

“People surprise us all the time,” she told him with a gentle grin.

“I should have known,” he muttered, lowering his head down into his hands. “I should have known the call was false. That it was a trap.”

“Hey,” Lin murmured. He didn’t look at her and she rubbed her hand over his shoulders as they shook with sobs. “That call came through dispatch, I checked the log myself. It was given to you by our own call center. There is no way you could have known, no way at all. What happened was not your fault, I promise you.” 

Jaluu just nodded again, hearing what she said but unable to respond to it.

“Go finish whatever paperwork you’re right in the middle of and go home. Be with the people you love.” She waited for him to look at her and gave him a small, encouraging smile. “I am here, as well, if you need support or anyone to talk to. I understand as well as anyone how difficult this is.”

She stood with him as he rose and they walked to her door, which she opened for him. Lin took his hand as he walked past her, squeezing it tightly. “I will see you soon,” she told him.

He left with a word of sincere thanks and she closed the door gently behind him, slumping against it the moment it latched. Tears burned at her eyes and it took every modicum of willpower she had in her at that moment to squeeze them closed and swallow as the urge to sob until she had nothing left passed. It took several minutes, and she didn’t move until she felt solid on her feet again.

She was everyone’s support, their guidance through this. If she broke, the way she so dreadfully wanted to, her officers, everyone in this building of her stronghold, would have no one – and that was simply not an option.

And so she went to her desk, picking up something to work on while those around her turned to her for strength she felt she no longer had, waning away with every passing moment.

xXx

Lin worked until she no longer could that night, finally leaving the precinct and making her way home well after eleven. Tenzin had called her numerous times, but she had asked Hutou to hold all of her calls – even his – and she had not spoken to him at all that day in the unhappy chaos of the funeral. He had been there, of course, and had spent as much time as he could at her side, but they had been parted constantly until she had eventually been pulled away and he had returned home. Her home, _their_ home, where he was likely waiting for her.

She was as quiet as she could be as she unlocked the door, not wanting to disturb him should he have fallen asleep, and let herself inside out of the cold. Most of the lights had been turned off, but she could still see him dozing on the couch, where he had attempted to wait for her to return.

Guilt stabbed at her, pooling in her stomach until she felt ill from the weight of the day. She bit her lip and released it again as she knelt by the sofa at Tenzin’s side, reaching out to brush her fingers over his cheek to stir him.

“Lin?” he mumbled, voice heavy with sleep. “You’re home. What time is it?”

“Late,” she replied softly without further clarification. She dropped her hand, letting it rest instead on her thigh as he sat up slowly.

When her touch left him, he put his hand out to cup her face, bringing her weary gaze to meet his and not letting her look away. “I was worried about you,” he told her simply. “I wasn’t sure if you were going to come home. I thought – I thought you were going to sleep in your office. And when you wouldn’t take my calls…well, I was worried.”

She gave him a small, sad smile. “I’m home.”

“You look exhausted.” He slid his hand over her cheek, moving his thumb under her eye. She was startled when he found moisture there, a tear she hadn’t even known she’d shed. “Let’s go prepare for bed. Would you like me to draw you a bath? Or perhaps a cup of tea to help you sleep?”

Lin just shook her head, letting him help her to her feet as he stood. “Come on,” he said gently, his arm finding loose purchase around her waist over her coat. “Let’s get you to bed, then.”

She started to follow him, allowing him to lead her down the hall toward the bedroom, but the crushing burden of the day – of the last several – was taking its toll. She stumbled once over her own boots, and then twice, and suddenly she pushed Tenzin’s arm away as her heart began to pound so hard in her chest she felt as though she were unable to breathe. He turned to look at her, surprised, but she just fell sideways into the wall, tears falling down her face as she began to sob with abandon.

Tenzin grabbed for her shoulders, but she was already sliding down the wall, unable to keep herself standing as her knees completely gave way. Down she went, Tenzin following nearby, until she was slumped forward in a huddled mess of limbs on the floor.

His concerned touch on her arm made her cry out harder, and he recoiled from her in alarm. All she could see around her in that moment were faces – faces of the men and women she had lost, all staring back at her, never to be touched by their own loved ones again. It was too much, too much.

“I can’t,” she wailed, falling back to press into the wall behind her. “I can’t do this, I can’t.”

Tenzin quickly sat on the floor beside her, and she both desperately wanted him to touch her and couldn’t bear the thought of it, knowing she was here, alive, and Shun was not when it had been her job to keep him safe. “Tenzin,” she cried uselessly, swaying her head to and fro and feeling the wall steady against her when it felt as though the earth were about to swallow her whole. “Tenzin – I don’t – I can’t - ”

“Lin -!”

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” she moaned brokenly, no longer aware of the tears covering her face. Tenzin shook his head, confused and trying to convey to her that she had nothing to apologize for, and she did not have the words then to tell him how the guilt for all of this was consuming her from the inside out. She was the one who pursued the robberies so hard, who looked into Tsung’s background, who pushed his son into taking hostages. She had hurt Tenzin so badly in the process, destroying something he had been working toward for years – and she had destroyed the life of her officer.

Her job, what she had built up in this city…none of it seemed worth a thing in that moment, and she could not bring herself to find a reason to care any longer, not when it was costing too much in return.

There was a small break in her trembling, and Tenzin took the opportunity to slip his arms around her, cautious of reawakening whatever his touch had burned a moment previously. But this time Lin fell into him, crying openly against his shoulder. Her hands clutched at his robes, wrinkled from sleeping on the couch, and she gave up trying to say another word as he silently ran his hand up and down her back, rocking with her on the floor.

xXx

Lin continued to lie in bed, awake as Tenzin slept fitfully, for hours into the approaching dawn. She had let him carry her from the hallway to the bedroom long after the clock over City Hall chimed midnight, where he gently helped her undress when her limbs refused to hold the weight of her body or of her uniform as it came loose from her. She felt weak, _brittle_ , after her collapse into that miserable darkness and she did not know where her inner self was any longer. 

An outsider – she felt like an outsider in her own life, not able to find her footing or see the light inside herself for strength. Everything was dull, when just days ago it had been bright and luminous around her.

Tenzin’s arms were tight over her waist and back even as he fell again into the deeper end of his slumber, holding her close. He was propped up against the headboard, more than he usually found comfortable, so she could press herself up against him, nestled to his chest and under his chin, as she recovered from whatever had plagued her so horribly. He had tried to stay awake with her, but eventually he had dozed and left her to her thoughts.

She swallowed and attempted once again to find sleep, closing her eyes and relaxing the remaining tension from her body as best she could. But, as before, it was elusive as the fingers of exhaustion crept over her and slipped away. She stared at the shelves on the far wall, cast in shadow and giving the books and objects there a strange shape. 

Only a small handful of times had she felt this kind of overwhelming grief and guilt. Once, when Suyin left home and Toph blamed her for her favorite daughter’s forced departure. Again, when her mother left herself, leaving the full weight of the police force on her shoulders with no guidance to lead her through it. A third time when Tenzin left her for Pema and Lin was so certain her heart would never recover. And then now.

But this time…this time she was not sure how to recover herself. Her will was depleted, her strength gone. Tenzin murmured to her in the dark as he held her in bed hours earlier that she gave so much of her strength away, and she knew it was true.

It was only as she finally found slumber just after the sun broke over the city, fighting through the clouds, that she understood the path she needed to walk to find closure and contentment again.

xXx

She went into the precinct that afternoon for one reason, and the filing of all the necessary paperwork only took thirty minutes. Hutou helped her tremendously, gathering everything together so all she needed to do was fill in the missing information. She had him notarize it right there and then an aide rolled everything up, put her seal into fresh wax over the edges, and brought the pronouncement directly to the president’s secretary. Raiko would call her with a displeased diatribe within the hour, but she wouldn’t be in her office to answer.

She folded one of the forms still on her desk and slipped it into an inside pocket of her coat.

Tenzin had departed for Air Temple Island when she had left for work, and she left her office as soon as she was finished to head out into the brisk day. The sun had vanished behind the clouds again, though snow was still kept at bay as a heavy wind pushed the weather out for the next front to come in.

She greeted the acolytes on the ferry with a content smile.

“Early dinner with the family today?” one of them asked pleasantly as he untied the rope and set off into the bay.

“No,” Lin replied, leaning against the railing so the sea breeze would blow her hair back from her face. Small bits of spray coming up off the side of the boat left her skin damp. “I have a gift for Tenzin this time.”

The acolyte waved to her as she disembarked several minutes later and walked up the dock toward the temple and its housing. She was already searching for Tenzin through the earth, wanting to see him before she found anyone else, and her waves found him in his study inside the house. She went in though a side door, hoping to avoid the children for the moment, and went up a short flight of stairs at the end of the hall. His door was closed and she could hear him mumbling to himself, something about rewording a ‘stupid law’, and she rapped a knuckle against the wood.

“Yes, come in,” he called out.

Lin pushed the door open, peering in at him before stepping all the way inside. It took a moment before he looked up from his desktop, pen in hand and a smudge of ink on his forehead. A little more than an hour and he had already lost himself in work. His entire face lit up when he saw her standing at the doorway, and he stood from the desk and came around to take her into his arms without hesitation.

“How are you feeling?” he asked softly, his embrace tight and warm around her.

She took a deep inhale and let it out slowly, closing her eyes to stay connected and hear his heart beating against her ear. “I’m feeling better,” she told him, the words honest. After a moment she pulled back slightly, only enough to rub her thumb against the smudge just beside his arrow. She smiled. “I thought you retired, and yet here you are working just as hard as I do.”

“Raiko is trying to pass the most ridiculous -”

“A very stupid law,” Lin interjected, her smile broadening. “I could hear you talking to yourself.”

“Is that so.” He brushed his knuckles over her cheek, eyes softening with his own smile as he cupped her face in his palm. “I see you are _not_ at work,” he murmured, gazing at her thoughtfully. “Did you not get enough sleep?”

Her lips quirked and she moved backward a bit more in order to reach into her coat pocket for the paper. He took it from her when she offered it to him, his arms falling away from her as he opened it to read quickly over the sparse contents. She watched, her heart starting to pound with excitement, as his eyebrows came together in confusion.

“What – Lin, what is this?”

“This,” she told him, taking the form back and looking at it herself, “is my official notice of leave. Three months starting at the end of next week.” He stared at her, too surprised to speak in response. “I want to help you rebuild your temples, Tenzin,” she whispered, eyes falling to the floor. “I may not be able to lend you my entire fortune, but I can lend you my bending. You and I – we can rebuild them together, one at a time. We can finish a single temple’s restoration in three months, don’t you think?” Still he didn’t speak, and she pressed gently, “Tenzin, say something. Please.”

Tenzin swept her back into his arms, holding her to him tightly. “Lin,” he murmured into her hair. “Oh, Lin.”

“Is this your way of agreeing, then?” she asked softly, her face nestled against his robes. She moved slightly in his embrace to turn her head over his shoulder.

He laughed, a blissfully happy sound, and leaned back to see her. He opened his mouth to speak but no words emerged, instead overtaken by another gleeful laugh. When his second attempt also failed to bring about a coherent response, he simply took her face and kissed her soundly on the lips. “Yes,” he finally said, kissing her again and then a third time. “Of course, of course!”

Lin took a step away to look at him, running the fingers of both hands over his cheeks. He had started to cry, joyful tears meeting her fingertips as she brushed them from his skin. “Your children can join us,” she told him softly, and he smiled so widely at her she couldn’t help but return it. “However, I would like some leisure for ourselves, first. Just you and me, wherever you want to go.”

“Ember Island,” Tenzin murmured, pulling her back into his embrace. “We were always so happy on our trips there, do you remember? Let’s go back, get away from the cold and the clouds.”

“I like the sound of that,” she said with a laugh of her own. “Very much, in fact.”

“Truly, Lin? Are you really ready to take such a large step?” He pressed his face to her neck and she felt him close his eyes there as his arms tightened, one around her waist and another sliding up around her back. His delight and apprehension mixed together though his heartbeat and she kissed the side of his head.

“Yes.” The single word was firm and confident, and she was silent until his uncertainty faded. “Tsung and Tau Be both confessed,” she said quietly, sinking against him without any restraint. His warmth was a comfort she cherished, and the strength of it helped her ground herself. “They are both being held in prison, along with Tau Be’s friend. Everyone else in their organization is already being arrested. The case is closed.”

His hand moved up and down her back in smooth strokes she felt through the metal of her armor. “I am relieved to be putting this behind us.”

“As am I.”

She took a deep breath and moved away again to meet his eyes. “We can leave the day my leave goes into effect. I’ll have most of the belongings I wish to bring packed by then, I think. Anything larger I can send for once we arrive at the temple.”

He touched the side of her face, and she leaned into his fingers easily. “Where should we start?”

“Where else but the Southern Air Temple?” she supplied with a lopsided grin. “Your father’s childhood home deserves all the love and respect we can shower upon it.”

Tenzin leaned in and kissed her sweetly, lingering there for a long moment. “I love you, Lin,” he whispered, remaining close. “So much.”

“I know,” she replied as she covered his hands where they rested on her face with her own, fingers curling between his. “And I love you with all my heart. Which is why, Tenzin, I am so certain we will accomplish your goal. We do not need funding or money or anyone’s help. All we need is each other. We’ll survive anything as long as we have each other.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to take a moment to say how much I appreciate those of you who have been reading with me for so long. I recognize so many of your names, and that kind of thing means the world to me whether you review or simply continue to read and enjoy. Knowing my work is enjoyed as much as I enjoy creating it keeps me writing.
> 
> I will have more to share very soon. Thank you, all!


End file.
